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11. As long as it is not in writing, you can threaten any form of collection action without following through. T Askin 12. Patient-dumping accusations must be considered before releasing a patient from your practice for nonpayment of charges. 13. During patient checkout, you may offer the option of delaying payment. 14. The Truth in Lending Act outlines the lender's responsibilities if five or more payments are needed to settle a debt. 15. Patient accounts with payment plans should be reviewed monthly. 16. Collection schedules should be customized for your practice and geographic economy. 17. A dollar collected at the time of service has the same value as one collected two months after the service date. 18. All bad debt balances should be removed from the accounts receivable balance when they are determined to be uncollectible. 19. Bad-debt patients' charts should be identified by a notation recognizable only to practice employees. 20. The responsible party for a child of divorce is the adult accompanying the child for treatment. 21. Workers' compensation claims cannot be billed to the patient unless the claim is ruled nonindustrial. 22. A proof of claim must be filed in the estate's probate within six months of a patient's death. 23. While all employees should be familiar with collection policies, only the accounts receivable staff should answer billing questions. 24. An attorney should periodically review collection policies and letters to ensure no violations of state regulations or laws occur. 25. Electronic funds transfers are payments transmitted from the insurance carrier's financial institution directly into the medical provider's financial institution account